Of Cookies and Clues
by Hiccup251
Summary: Someone has stolen something precious from Ruby Rose, and she will go to great lengths to find out who. Clue gathering is complete, now, and I have progressed into alternate endings.
1. The Game is Afoot

An exhausted Ruby Rose made her way back to her room after a long day of classes. After stumbling inside, she perked up at the thought of what was to come. The teen dashed to her desk and pulled out an enormous glass jar from a drawer. Humming a happy tune, she removed the lid.

Upon seeing the contents, Ruby froze. In a panic, she dumped the contents of the jar and began counting. After a second count, she slowly replaced the precious items.

Ruby narrowed her eyes dangerously.

* * *

Ruby stood in front of her team with her feet planted firmly at shoulder width, arms crossed, eyes impassive. She looked each of her teammates in the eye for a few seconds. Weiss shifted uncomfortably. Yang frowned. Blake watched her leader with curious amber eyes.

"I suppose you're all wondering why I've called you here today," Ruby spoke.

"She's good," whispered Yang to Blake, earning a glare from Ruby.

"I have discovered," the leader continued, "a _cookie deficiency_ in my secret stash!"

She paused for effect, and to gauge her teammates' reactions.

"You called a team meeting because someone stole a cookie!?" blurted Weiss.

Ruby tilted her chin up. "Not just any cookie. One of my _super deluxe triple chocolate chip cookies_! I save those only for special occasions!"

Yang gasped as Ruby pointed to the huge jar of cookies she had left out.

The heiress sputtered. "Special occasions? There must be more than a hundred cookies in there!"

"Exactly!" replied Ruby. "They should last me at least a month."

Weiss' jaw went slack. Yang gave her a sidelong glance.

"You've been her partner for months. Are you telling me you're surprised?"

Weiss most certainly was. She had been aware of her partner's obsession with unhealthy foods since day one, but she had no idea she was so out of control. She spent some time sorting out her thoughts before speaking.

"It was just one cookie, right? As in, maybe one of four you'd eat on "special occasions" throughout the day? Can't you just let it go?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes at Weiss. "You're not getting off the hook that easy."

Weiss let out an indignant gasp. "Are _you_ accusing _me_?"

"Not yet," responded the aspiring detective. "I don't have enough clues for that. But I will… in time."

Blake, Weiss, and Yang exchanged worried looks, realizing Ruby's intentions. A silent understanding passed between the three, and Ruby was not oblivious.

"The game is afoot!" she exclaimed, pulling a pipe out of nowhere. Placing it in her mouth, she blew a cloud of bubbles.

* * *

_**A/N: A preview for a story I've been working on. Since my last was relatively heavy, I figured I'd go for some humorous misadventures. Outcome is not decided yet: I plan to leave everyone suspicious so I can do Clue-style multiple endings. Review, please, with comments or suggestions!**_


	2. The Plot Thickens

Yang let out a tired sigh. She lay on her bed with her chin resting on one hand, watching Ruby as she scanned their entire room with a magnifying glass. She'd been at it for nearly an hour.

"Aha!" exclaimed Ruby. Yang sat up. Her sister had actually found something?

"What is it?" she asked.

Ruby turned her head to look at her sister. "I can't tell you that. _You're _still a suspect."

"C'mon, sis, this is _me _we're talking about," Yang pleaded with a nervous grin as her sibling slid whatever she had found into a manilla envelope labeled EVIDENCE. Ruby looked up at her sister once more, before promptly turning away and walking out of the room.

_What have we gotten ourselves into… _Yang sullenly thought to herself.

* * *

Weiss grimaced as she sat in hunting theory class. Ruby had been watching her with those damned silver eyes of hers for the better part of their two hour class, but she refused to acknowledge her or show any signs of discomfort. Frowning, she realized she _had _shown discomfort with that grimace just moments ago. She'd simply have to accept the failure and try her best to keep her cool.

"Miss Schnee, the answer to the question, please."

_Class. Class!_ Weiss started, on the verge of panic. She had never been in this situation before.

"It is a simple question," her professor droned, "surely you can demonstrate basic knowledge on the subject."

The heiress felt herself begin to hyperventilate.

Her professor frowned. "Perhaps not. Miss Valkyrie, would you be so kind as to answer the question in her place?"

"Mhm!" replied the exuberant redhead, who had been bouncing up and down in her seat with her hand raised since their teacher first asked his question. "The safest way to engage multiple targets is to try to separate them and fight with only one or two at a time. But it's a lot less fun, though!"

Weiss chanced a look back at her partner. They made eye contact, and Ruby's eyes narrowed. Weiss gulped.

As soon as she left the classroom, Weiss felt someone grab her and quickly pull her to a more secluded hallway. When they stopped and her assailant let her go, the heiress turned to see Ruby Rose not two feet from her with her fists on her hips.

"Something on your mind?" asked the little detective, her voice low. "Something about… _cookies!?"_

"N-no! I was, um-"

"I'm waaaaiting," came her partner's ever-patient reply.

"Boys!" Weiss exclaimed. "I was thinking about boys!"

"...Uh-huh." Ruby did not look convinced. "What boys, may I ask?"

"Er, I can't tell you that! It's private."

"Of course," her partner drawled as she took out a little black notebook and wrote something down. Weiss felt a bead of sweat drip down her face.

"Okay," said Ruby, slowly. "You can go."

With a sigh of relief, the heiress dashed away.

"The plot thickens," Ruby announced to no one in particular.

* * *

_**A/N: Blake in the next chapter, I promise. I know this is short, but I thought I should get some actual content in this story before setting out to write a longer section. As always, review, review, review!  
**_


	3. From Shadows

The cafeteria was as noisy as ever, and Blake wanted out more than anything. The fact that Ruby had been following her around all day added significantly to her discomfort. Quickly finishing her meal, the faunus girl ignored the catcalls of some of her more annoying classmates and hurriedly made her way out into the halls.

Blake felt a gaze burning holes into the back of her head. She knew who it was, but turned around anyway, only to see an empty hallway. She frowned. While her team's leader was noisy and in-your-face much of the time, she was clearly no slouch at stealth when she wanted to be.

Blake massaged her left temple as she continued down the hall. _Or maybe I'm just getting paranoid._

In a classroom off of that hallway, Ruby apologized profusely for interrupting class, before dashing out again to continue trailing her target.

* * *

**Later that day**

Blake stood in the shower, head turned up towards the ceiling as water pelted her skin. She relished her first real privacy of the day - the reclusive faunus was not used to the undivided attention she was currently receiving from her leader. Softly, she began to sing one of her favorite songs to herself.

_From shadows... _

* * *

Blake walked into her dorm with a towel wrapped around herself. A fiercely blushing Ruby Rose sat on one of the beds, refusing to make eye contact with her.

_No… _thought the girl with amber eyes, feeling her cheeks flush as well. _She wouldn't. What could she possibly gain from…? _Finding herself increasingly embarrassed, Blake muttered "I need to go… do… stuff." She hurried from the room.

Ruby relaxed and let herself lie down onto the bed, letting out a small squeal. _I didn't know she had a tail!_

* * *

That night, the soft sound of footsteps echoed in the team RWBY dorm. A cabinet opened, and shortly after came a crunch.

* * *

_**A/N: For anyone who didn't understand, Ruby was watching Blake shower. **_

_**I've decided to keep these pretty short, though I know there wasn't much substance in this one. This way, I can continue putting out about one a day and keep the story moving. I see this approaching the halfway point of where I begin writing alternate endings, meaning that there is still plenty to come. Drop me a review or PM with comments and/or suggestions!**_


	4. The Innocent Never Run

Ruby screamed.

"Take cover!" exclaimed a still half-asleep Yang as she rolled off the side of her bed, taking her blankets with her. She landed with a thump directly on top of Blake, who had responded to their leader's shriek in the same way.

"Three more cookies, _gone!" _Ruby howled. Weiss, being the only one in her line of sight, became the target of her leader's ire. "_You."_

"Not me!" yelled the heiress, as she scrambled out of bed and out the door. Ruby gave chase.

Blake and Yang still lay in a pile of entangled limbs and sheets. A light blush touched both of their faces, realizing precisely what this would look like to anyone walking in.

"Think it's safe to come out, now?" the blonde-haired girl whispered, their faces only inches apart. "...or maybe we should stay like this for a while?" She winked.

Blake threw the other girl off her. "I think it's safe."

Yang pouted.

* * *

Ruby caught up to Weiss in just a few seconds. Grabbing the older girl by both shoulders, she pressed her against a wall.

"Why did you do it!?" shouted the furious teen.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" the heiress denied fervently, moving her arms up to protect her face.

"Lies! Confess! Confess!" Ruby yelled as she shook the other girl.

"Perhaps I can be of some assistance in this situation," came a voice from behind. Ruby stopped, having forgotten they were in a public hallway, and turned to regard the newcomer.

"Professor Ozpin!" the two girls exclaimed at the same time. For the next ten seconds, the pair talked over each other, trying to shift the blame onto the other. Ozpin simply watched, amused, until Ruby let out a frustrated shriek.

"She stole my cookies!"

"You have no _proof!_"

"The innocent never run, _Weiss."_

Ozpin held up a hand, silencing the pair.

"As headmaster," he began, " I am aware of a great many things that happen in my school. I cannot tell you who took your cookies. But, I can tell you that it was _not _Miss Schnee."

Weiss let out a sigh of relief as Ruby let her go.

"And," he continued, "If you promise to refrain from physically harming your fellow students, I can give you some information that might point you in the right direction."

Ruby thought for a moment, then nodded. "I accept your terms."

* * *

_**A/N: There will be no shipping in this story. I simply feel like Yang would never let an opportunity pass where she could tease Blake. **_

_**Another character introduced! Who do you think did it? Tell me in a PM or review!  
**_


	5. Cliffhanger

Yang, Weiss, and Blake all sat on the floor of their dorm, watching their leader connect scraps of notebook paper with strings on an enormous bulletin board. Her EVIDENCE folder rested on a nearby desk, and Ruby peeked inside sometimes while trying to sort out her clues. The web of information encompassed the entire board, which was at least and tall as Ruby, though nobody was really sure how there could be so much data on such a small case.

"So, who do you think did it?" Yang asked her unoccupied teammates. No response came from Blake.

"I bet you did," Weiss speculated. "You knew about the stash, you wouldn't have much to lose if caught, being her sister, and your manners are even more crude than hers," she continued haughtily. "It just makes sense that it would be you."

Yang leaned back with her arms crossed behind her head, not in the least bit offended. "I guess we'll see, won't we?"

* * *

Ruby looked over her information one final time, nodded her head, and turned to face her teammates.

"Thank you all for your patience. After extensively checking over my clues, I have come to my final conclusion! I have discovered who stole my cookies! The culprit's name is…"

* * *

_**A/N: Cliffhanger! Apologies for the very short chapter, but I was running out of ideas for evidence gathering while quickly piling up ideas for endings. This may feel a bit rushed (it was), but the I think finishing this out will be a lot of fun. First ending will be out shortly, and then probably one-a-day like my other updates have been. Please give suggestions for culprits; I have already outlined two endings inspired by reader response, and there's always room for more! **_


	6. Yang Xiao Long

"Yang Xiao Long!"

"I knew it!' exclaimed Weiss.

All eyes now on her, Yang threw her arms up in surrender. "Ya got me."

Ruby crossed her arms, a small frown on her face. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm really sorry, sis, and I'll make it up to you somehow, but first, tell me: how did you know it was me? I thought I did a pretty good job keeping myself out of suspicion," Yang wondered.

Ruby sighed. "Well, the trail of crumbs from my desk to your bed the first morning was a tip-off." She looked almost ashamed at how careless Yang had been.

Her sister seemed to shrink a little. "Eh heh… it wasn't _that _obvious, right?" she asked with an embarrassed grin. Ruby gave her a look. "Well," the blonde-haired girl continued, "didn't you think I might have been framed?"

Ruby nodded. "That's why I continued to search. Some clues seemed to point at other people but, well, they were probably all just nervous to have me prying so relentlessly."

"She did focus in on our personal lives a bit much," Weiss whispered to Blake. The faunus girl nodded, but wisely kept her mouth shut about just how far their leader had gone.

"I wasn't sure it was you until earlier today," Ruby continued, "when professor Ozpin kindly gave me the locations of all my suspects over the times when the cookies could have been stolen. You were the only one around on the first day, and nobody came into our room the second night."

"I guess that's enough to implicate me," Yang sighed in defeat. "But how did you get Ozpin to tell you that? That kind of precise information couldn't have come cheap."

Her sister shrugged. "He made me promise not to hurt anyone, which I suppose was a good thing. I was getting pretty out of hand… Anyway, Ozpin had some coffee stolen from his personal supply just a couple weeks ago, so I think he empathized with me pretty hard."

Yang nodded in understanding. "Okay, sis, I'll tell you what. When spring break comes around in a few months and we head home, I'll bake you a full four dozen of your favorite."

Ruby's eyes sparkled, but she managed to keep the frown on her face. "And you'll do my homework for the rest of the week. To make up for the broken trust."

The older sister rolled her eyes. "And I'll do your homework for the rest of the week."

Unable to hide her happiness any longer, Ruby ran forward and gave her sister a hug. "I forgive you!"

The other two girls smiled at the display. "You two are so cute," Blake purred. The sisters turned as one and stuck their tongues out.

"I am _so _glad that's over," Weiss sighed. "But, Yang, did you say you'd bake her 'her favorite'? You make Ruby all her cookies?"

Yang nodded. "Well, not all of them. Only the best," she claimed with pride. "How did you think she got so many, so fresh? For cookies of this quality, I don't think anyone but you could have afforded the number she brought on day one."

Weiss thought for a moment. "That… actually makes a lot of sense. Perhaps you would consider making an additional batch for your partner and I to enjoy?" she added with a light blush.

"Why Weiss," Yang replied joyfully, "I didn't know that was to your tastes. Of course I'll make you two some cookies."

* * *

_**A/N: And they all ate cookies happily forever after. **_

_**Yang was the easiest suspect for me, and one of the more believable ones, so I wrote this first. The next couple endings will be about as clear, and will adhere to the buildup well. After that, though... it's going to get sillier and sillier. I have one planned that might not even hit 100 words. Again, drop me suggestions. I have 6 (!) other endings already outlined, all on their way, and your idea might add to that!**_


	7. Ozpin

"Professor Ozpin!"

Ruby threw open the door to the dorm, revealing the accused. He was frozen mid-step, peering into the now open dorm in mild surprise.

"How does she do it?" muttered Yang in wonder.

"Well, that was faster than I expected," said Ozpin calmly as he turned to face the girls properly.

"How could you do this to me?" Ruby pouted. "After you introduced yourself with a plate of choco chip, I really felt we understood each other. On a personal level."

Ozpin lifted his hand in a calming gesture. "Now, Ruby Rose, I know you have reason to be angry with me, but rest assured you will be paid back in full for your damages. And I did understand you on a personal level; that is why I chose the loss of your favorite cookies, which I determined to be one of the more important objects in your life, to be the catalyst for my test."

"Test?" asked every member of team RWBY, at the same time.

Headmaster Ozpin nodded. "A test to see if your team would hold together in especially troubling times, or if you would devolve into petty squabbles and grudges. You four have proved to me that you are ready for the mission I had in mind. But, that is for another time. First, Miss Rose, would you be so kind as to walk us through how you came to your conclusion?"

"Okay," Ruby agreed. "The first clue to point to you was the coffee ring I found on my desk the first morning. While I drink the stuff, I always do so on my bed, so that didn't belong. You aren't the only one who drinks coffee consistently at Beacon, but it certainly narrowed it down."

"Continue," prompted Ozpin.

"I hit a dry streak early on in my investigation. My other leads weren't getting me anywhere, and I was getting pretty frustrated. Then you showed up when I was, uh, interrogating Weiss. I thought I was finally going to find the culprit with the information you gave me, but every lead turned up short. Then I got to thinking… you seemed to know an awful lot about my problem, yet you failed to help me incriminate anyone. You told me you couldn't say who it was, which avoided a straight lie of "I don't know who did it." You yourself didn't have an alibi, unlike everyone I had investigated. So, I made an educated guess. You confirmed my suspicions just a moment ago by admitting your guilt," the little detective finished with a smile.

"Clever," he responded. The edges of his lips were turned up in what could almost be called a smile.

"I'm not finished," Ruby continued, relishing her position of power. "Though I was pretty sure you had done it, I hadn't been able to come up with an explanation for how you got in and out of our dorm, twice, without anybody seeing you. You had to have had some way - or someone - to keep track of the positions of all the teams in this hall, and make sure nobody was around to see you enter or leave. The way you came to Weiss' aid out in the hall had been a bit suspicious, which made me think it could be her. And then I remembered - the day the first cookie was stolen, before I even knew it would happen, I had seen Weiss pacing our hallway, yelling at anybody who came close. I had dismissed it as just one of her bad moods, but it seems I was mistaken. She wasn't pacing; she was _patrolling._"

The accused was standing behind Ruby, her eyes widened in fear. She clasped her hands in front of her and pleaded silently to Ozpin.

The headmaster slowly clapped. "Most impressive. I did, indeed, have a deal with Miss Schnee."

Weiss froze, then hung her head in defeat. "But you forced me into it!" she attempted.

Ozpin chuckled. "I never forced you. I only offered you back the three points you missed on your last Battlefield Tactics exam."

"For Weiss, that's… pretty much the same thing," Blake smiled. Ruby and Yang grudgingly agreed.

"Okay, so I'm not going to be mad at you, Weiss," conceded Ruby. She turned to face Ozpin. "Professor, you said something about compensating me. What did you have in mind?"

The man thought for a moment, then smiled. "How about two months of free access to the pantry?"

"Done," Ruby responded almost instantaneously.

"Good. I will be back sometime in the next few days to discuss the mission I mentioned earlier."

Having concluded his business, the most powerful man in the school walked out of the team RWBY dorm.

Preoccupied as she was with thoughts of food, Ruby didn't even notice him go.

* * *

_**A/N: Ending two! More people than I anticipated suspected Ozpin, so I wrote this second. **_

_**So much explanation here! I've actually been surprised at how easy it's been, so far, to implicate different people, given how little planning went into the buildup. Maybe I'm just lucky.**_

_**Which ending did you like better? Who's the next suspect? Tell me in a PM or review!**_


	8. Cardin Winchester

"Cardin Winchester!"

Ruby threw open the front door to reveal the accused. He wore a black cape with red interior and a black bowler cap, in addition to his usual armor. He stood in the doorway, swept his evil cape in front of him and twirled his evil mustache.

"Curses," he swore. "foiled again!"

The villain threw a smoke bomb at his feet and disappeared.

The girls stared at the doorway in disbelief.

"Well," said Yang, breaking the silence, "that was a thing."

* * *

_**"I am sincerely sorry," said the author as he cackled madly to himself.**_

_**But seriously, I'll have a good one up later today.**_


	9. Sun Wukong

"Sun Wukong!"

Ruby walked to the room's closet and opened the door. Sun was inside, asleep. He teetered - he had been leaning against the closet door, slightly - and slowly tilted over. Nobody moved to catch him. Finally, he toppled to the floor.

"What," he started, waking from his impact.

He looked up, surprised to see the girls, and took in their expressions. Weiss stood with her arms crossed, judging. Yang seemed a bit confused, as if she were trying to work something out, and Blake bit her lower lip in worry. Ruby stood over him, clearly not pleased. It took Sun a moment to remember why.

"Oh."

"Oh is right, mister," confirmed Ruby. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Sun sat up, grinning nervously and scratching his head. "Er… the cookies were delicious?"

"Not going to plead innocent?" asked the little detective, sounding a bit disappointed.

"Well, I don't see much point," he shrugged. "I wake up on the floor, with you looking at me like that… I'm pretty sure you know what I did."

Yang raised her hand. "How did you manage to catch him, and, uh, subdue him? From what Blake told us of the fight a few weeks ago, I'd think he'd at least be able to get out or defend himself. And I never woke up last night, so you must have been pretty quiet about it."

"I drugged the cookie," said Ruby matter-of-factly.

"You _what!?" _yelled Weiss.

A groan from Sun shifted the girls' attention back to him. He still sat on the floor, now holding his face in his hands. "She drugged the cookie…"

"I woke up early, probably not long after he passed out," Ruby explained. "I'd been expecting him, so I knew I should be up before you three to avoid… misunderstandings. I just dragged him into the closet and left it at that."

"Alright, I can picture that," Yang nodded.

"How did you know it was him?" Blake blurted. _Oops._

Ruby gave the girl a knowing look. "And that brings us to you. I never really suspected you would steal my cookies, Blake, but my investigation of you did confirm my suspicions that you'd been meeting with Sun recently. A couple days ago, I noticed some small pieces of banana peel on your tail; Sun is the only person I've ever seen eating a banana; they're pretty hard to come by, as I understand."

Yang raised her hand again, and Ruby gave her an exasperated look. "I didn't even know Blake _had _a tail. How did you see the banana on it?"

Blake blushed and looked away, while Ruby fought to keep her cheeks from flushing. "The detective shall not reveal her secrets!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. Sun raised an eyebrow.

"Moving on!" Ruby said quickly. "When Professor Ozpin halted my interrogation of Weiss yesterday, he told me that one of my teammates was assisting the thief. This solved the issue of how the thief managed to get in. Then, I remembered Blake leaving the window open, despite how cold it is outside. Honestly, 'I want some fresh air' wasn't much of an excuse." She pointed at Blake. "You told Sun about my stash, and then helped him get to it!"

The faunus girl sighed. "It's true."

Sun stood and shook his head. "I won't let you take them blame for this. We were talking a few days back, and she accidentally let it slip that you had this secret supply of top-quality cookies, and I wouldn't let the subject drop. I'm sorry, I was just so _hungry._ Anyway, I convinced her to get me in to try one - it took some time, she's no pushover - and I was hooked after the first bite. Next chance I had, I took three. I suppose it was my own greed that got me caught last night," he admitted.

"So, you take full responsibility for your actions?" Ruby asked.

"Of course. Blake didn't do anything wrong, I got her into this."

"Well then! We must come up with a proper punishment," concluded the leader.

"My life is in your hands," Sun joked, hoping the younger girl wouldn't take that literally.

He waited while the girls gathered in a huddle. After a few minutes, the circle broke, and they approached Sun.

"We have decided on your punishment," Ruby intoned ominously.

"And?" Sun asked nervously.

"Maid for a day!" the girls shouted.

"Maid for a day," he responded, uncomprehending.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Sun complained. He was dressed in a full maid outfit, dress, frilly headband and all, which Blake had mysteriously produced. It fit him perfectly.

Weiss grunted. "I'm out of tea. Go get me some more."

"Yes, ma'am," he responded morosely, and moved to leave the room.

Ruby giggled. "Don't forget to grab the laundry on your way back!"

* * *

**Days later**

"Hold up," said Yang, suddenly. "If Sun was already in the closet that morning, why did you bother putting together that web of clues on the bulletin board?"

"Oh, that?" Ruby replied. "Just something I always wanted to do."

Her sister rolled her eyes, bemused. "Oh, you."

* * *

_**A/N: Check out my friend's story, Weiss Cold! She started working on it just a day or two after I published this - they're based off a similar premise, and we've kind of been writing in parallel. If you've been enjoying this, you should enjoy reading hers. **_

_**Link here: s/10017906/1/Weiss-Cold  
**_


	10. Ruby Rose

Ruby sighed. "Actually, I haven't figured it out yet. It just doesn't make any sense!"

The room instantly lost the tension that had built up.

"It's okay, sis," Yang consoled. "I'm sure you'll figure it out soon enough."

Ruby didn't look convinced. "None of my leads got me anywhere, and I don't have any other clues to work off of. How am I supposed to go about investigating now?"

Yang didn't have an answer for her.

"What did Professor Ozpin tell you in the hallway?" asked Weiss, curious of how his advice could possibly be unhelpful.

"He said it was the person I least suspect," she shrugged. "Which doesn't help me much, since it doesn't change the fact that it's still the person who I least suspect. I can't think of any unlikely people having a way in; I just have no clue how to use that fact to my advantage."

Her friends frowned, and everyone sat in thought for a few minutes.

"Why don't we just wait?" Blake suggested. "If the thief shows up again, maybe we'll be able to catch them or at least find another clue. And, if they don't show up again, then it's not too big a deal since you aren't going to lose more cookies, right?"

Ruby brightened. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, Team RWBY - Dismissed! Keep a watchful eye tonight!"

* * *

**That Night**

The sound of footsteps woke Yang. _The thief!_

She tried to get a look at the figure standing in front of Ruby's desk, but there was only a faint outline - it was too dark. As quietly as she could, Yang slipped out of bed. She landed on the floor louder than she'd have liked, wincing, but the thief didn't seem to have noticed. As she approached, the blonde-haired girl heard the characteristic sound of cookie-eating.

Finally directly behind the mysterious stranger, who she was pretty sure was female, Yang grabbed her shoulders.

"Stop, thief!" she yelled.

The figure froze, and slowly turned its head.

"Yang?" asked a sleepy-sounding Ruby Rose.

"Ruby?" her sister replied in shock.

Ruby looked down at the half-eaten cookie in her hand. "Wow, it was me the whole time?" she questioned drowsily. "That's stupid." She finished off the cookie. "Mmmm. I'm going back to sleep. Good night, Yang."

Yang watched in confusion as her sister walked over to her bed and climbed in. "Ugh," she grunted, massaging her temples. "...Good night, Ruby."


	11. Nora Valkyrie

"Nora Valkyrie!"

Nora burst into the room and tackled Ruby to the ground.

"RubyI'msosorrypleaseforgivemepleaseplease_pleeeaaase!"_

"Maybe," Ruby coughed, "if you get... off…"

Nora quickly complied, standing with her hands clasped, a sheepish smile on her face.

"Okay, Ruby," Yang began. "Why don't we take it from the start? How did you know it was Nora?"

The teen got up, brushing the dust off of her skirt. "Right. Well, first off, there were a lot of crumbs around my desk after both incidents, and, as we all know, Nora is a very messy eater."

"I am," she confirmed, ashamed.

"And, for the last few days, she wouldn't even make eye contact with me, let alone talk to me. ever since our teams' dorms got placed right next to each other, she hasn't gone a day without at least saying hi to me."

Nora frowned and nodded. "I didn't want to see you upset."

"And finally," Ruby continued, "Magnhild was left in here after both incidents." She pointed at the warhammer resting in a corner of their room.

The rest of team RWBY blinked, and tried to come to terms with the fact that it had been there the whole time.

"How did I not see that?" muttered Weiss to nobody in particular.

"Oh, _that's _where he is. Oops," grinned Nora.

"But how did she get in?" questioned Blake. "We lock the door when none of us are around."

Nora looked at her skeptically. "Are you sure? Because I just turned the handle, and it opened."

Yang sighed. "And that would explain our broken door handle and lock."

Nora's mouth formed an 'O,' and she quickly moved to change the subject. "Alright, Ruby. What can I ever do to make this up to you?"

Ruby thought for a moment, scratching her chin. "Hmmm… Well, if you made me breakfast a few times this week - your signature waffles, but with chocolate chips - maybe I could forgive you."

Nora hugged the younger girl. "Ruby, for you, I'll make waffles _entirely_ out of chocolate chips!"

Ruby nearly fainted at the thought.


End file.
